Portable carrying case for takedown long arm

ABSTRACT

A portable gun case has a generally rectangular floor wall having two long side edges and two short end edges bridging the side edges, respective side and end walls projecting upward from the respective edges of the floor wall and forming an upwardly open cavity, and a top wall secured to one of the side walls and engageable down over the cavity. A mounting board fitted to one of the walls in the cavity is adapted to support parts of a gun. A plurality of flexible holding tapes are each mounted releasably at any of a plurality of locations on the board so the tapes can be wrapped around the parts of the gun and thereby securing the gun to the board.

SPECIFICATION FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a portable gun case. Moreparticularly this invention concerns an adjustable portable carryingcase for a takedown long arm, e.g. rifle or shotgun.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] A gun case as described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,519,662 of Kempken hasa hard two-part shell forming an elongated and generally parallepipedalcavity. Transverse bars in the cavity are each provided with a pluralityof holding brackets that can be positioned along the bars so as to fitwith the long arm to be held in the case.

[0003] Another gun case described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,487 of Munsonis of the same shape, but instead is provided with fixed molded blockscustom made to fit with a particular long arm or its parts. Such a casecan be produced at relatively low cost, but only fits a single gun orline of guns.

[0004] German Utility Model 298 18 077 assigned to Limtec GmbH describesanother gun case adapted to be carried like a backpack and provided withhook/loop (e.g. Velcro™) tapes used to secure the parts of a takedowngun in place.

[0005] These cases all have in common that they are fairly expensive tomanufacture and are normally also at least partially custom made forcertain types or sizes of guns. Adapting them to different guns isdifficult and refitting the box to accommodate a different gun is evenmore difficult.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0006] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide animproved portable gun case.

[0007] Another object is the provision of such an improved portable guncase which overcomes the above-given disadvantages, that is which isinexpensive to manufacture and very easy to adapt to guns of differentsizes, in particular takedown long arms.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] A portable gun case has according to the invention a generallyrectangular floor wall having two long side edges and two short endedges bridging the side edges, respective side and end walls projectingupward from the respective edges of the floor wall and forming anupwardly open cavity, and a top wall secured to one of the side wallsand engageable down over th cavity. In accordance with the invention amounting board fitted to one of the walls in the cavity is adapted tosupport parts of a gun. A plurality of flexible holding tapes aremounted releasably at any of a plurality of locations on the board sothe tapes can be wrapped around the parts of the gun and therebysecuring the gun to the board.

[0009] The use of flexible tapes, of the hook/loop type that havehook/loop ends that stick to each other or with an eye at one end, makesit possible to not only lock the tapes around any part of the gun havingany normal dimension, but also facilitates securing the tapes to theboard. What is more, the tapes secure th weapon in the case even withoutthe case being closed, thereby making using the case much simpler.Opening the case and taking out one part of the gun, for instance toswitch barrels or get a telescopic sight, is easy because everythingremains held solidly in place when the case is open. All the user has todo is undo the tapes of the part wanted to gain access to it.

[0010] According to the invention the board is formed with an array ofslots through which the tapes are looped. These slots are arrayed inparallel rows and each slot is throughgoing and has a length equal toslightly more than a width of the tapes. The board also has hook/loopregions engaging the tapes and releasably secured thereto. Thus to fitthe case according to the invention with a particular gun, its parts arelaid down at a spacing to each other on the panel. Then the tapes arthread d through the slots between the parts, automatically adhering tothe board, and are overlapped and pressed together atop the gun parts.The board is then fitted to the case.

[0011] The board is rigid and has a face turned toward the on wall andthe board face and the one wall are provided with complementaryhook/loop strips that removably secure the board to the one wall. Thusthe board can be pulled out, if necessary, and the tapes moved around toaccommodate another gun or another part of the gun already being held.The use of a separate liner/mounting board means that, now how matterthe tapes are set for a particular gun, the case will have the sameoutside appearance, as the tapes are nowhere visible outside the case.What is more, this board stiffens the entire case, so that the side andend walls as well as the floor and cover can be made of somewhat lighterstock.

[0012] The walls can all be folded flat. More specifically the sidewalls and end walls are permanently hinged on the floor wall and the topwall is permanently hinged on one of the side walls. Thus casesaccording to the invention can be shipped flat, in quantity to the enduser who can set them up as they are needed, one gun per case normally.The cases are so expensive that guns can be individually packaged inthem for inventory purposes or to move them about, and the casesthemselves can be used for display, e.g. at a gun show.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0013] The above and other objects, features, and advantages will becomemore readily apparent from the following description, reference beingmade to the accompanying drawing in which:

[0014]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the case according to theinvention;

[0015]FIG. 2 is a large-scale view of the detail indicated at II in FIG.1;

[0016]FIG. 3 is an end view of the case according to the invention withan end wall removed for clarity of view;

[0017]FIG. 4 is a cross section through a detail of the case;

[0018]FIG. 5 is a large-scale top view of the floor liner of the case;and

[0019]FIG. 6 is a small-scale view of the case when flattened.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION

[0020] As seen in FIG. 1 a portable case 10 according to the inventionis of elongated parallepipedal shape and has a planar floor 11, a planartop wall or cover 12, short end walls 13 a and 13 c extending upwardfrom short edges of the floor 11, and long side walls 13 b and 13 dbridging the end walls 13 a and 13 c and extending upward from longedges of the floor 11. The floor 11, top 12, and walls 13 a-d togetherform a storage compartment 14.

[0021] The floor 11 is covered by a liner board 15 of slightly smallerdimensions so it fits snugly between the walls 13 a-13 d. This board 15is formed with eight rows of nine slots 20 a-20 i (FIG. 5 also), therows being equispaced and extending in a direction g₁ and the slotsbeing equispaced in a transverse direction g₂. Strip 21 a and 21 b ofhook/loop tape extending along the long edges on the bottom face of theboard 15 secure it to complementary strips 22 a and 22 b of hook/looptape fixed to the floor 11 along the long edges thereof.

[0022] The cover 12 is hinged at an axis a at an upper edge of the longside wall 13 b, is slightly larger than the floor 11, and has a flap 25that can be secured by catches 30 a and 30 b to keepers 31 a on thefront long side wall 13 d, or by snaps as shown at 26 and 27 in FIG. 6.Mounting boards 16 a, 16 b, and 16 c formed with respective rows ofslots 20 a-20 i like the floor board 15 are secured inside the cover 12by hook/loop strips 21 c on the backs of the boards 15 and strips 22 con the long edges of the underside of the cover 12, so that these boards16 a-16 c can be mounted at any desired position in the longitudinaldirection g₂.

[0023]FIG. 6 shows how the entire box of the case 10 can be flattenedout, making it extremely easy to ship and store. This case 10 can alsobe produced by stamping from suitable stock, and can be made at very lowcost. Thus a person needing to hold a number of guns in stock or movethem from show to show can easily provide a separate case for each longarm, and can even sell them with the cases without investing too muchmoney in packaging.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 3 a long arm, here comprised of a stock 17 andtwo barrels 18 a and 18 b is secured in place in the compartment 14 ofthe case 10 by means of identical hook/loop tapes 19 a, 19 b, 19 c, 19d, 19 e, and 19 f, two per part of the long arm, and each in arespective row of the slots 20 a-20 i. To this end as shown in detail inFIG. 4 the tape 19 f, which is engaged over a narrow front end 28 of thestock 17, passes through two the two slots 20 g and 20 i, of the end rowand ends 23 a and 23 b of this tape 19 f and their confronting faces 24a and 24 b are engaged together to hold the stock 17 tightly to theboard 15. The slots 19 g and 19 i are selected because they are spacedapart by a distance slightly greater than a width l of the stock end 28,thereby insuring that the stock 17 will be held solidly in place. Ofcourse the tapes 19 a-19 d securing the barrels 18 a and 18 b in placeare fitted to adjacent slots, and the tape 19 e at the wide end of thestock 17 skips more than one slot.

I claim:
 1. A portable gun case comprising: a generally rectangularfloor wall having two long side edges and two short end edges bridgingthe side edges; respective side and end walls projecting upward from therespective edges of the floor wall and forming an upwardly open cavity;a top wall secured to one of the side walls and engageable down over thecavity; a plurality of flexible holding tapes; and means for releasablysecuring each of the tapes at any of a plurality of locations on one ofthe walls so the tapes can be wrapped around the parts of a gun restingon the one wall and thereby secure the gun to the one wall.
 2. Theportable gun case defined in claim 1 wherein the one wall includes amounting board fitted to the one wall in the cavity and adapted tosupport parts of a gun.
 3. The portable gun case defined in claim 2wherein the tapes each have hook/loop ends that stick to each other. 4.The portable gun case defined in claim 2 wherein the board is formedwith an array of slots through which the tapes are looped andconstituting the securing means.
 5. The portable gun case defined inclaim 4 wherein the slots are arrayed in parallel rows.
 6. The portablegun case defined in claim 5 wherein each of the slots is throughgoingand has a length equal to slightly more than a width of the tapes. 7.The portable gun case defined in claim 2 wherein the board has hook/loopregions engaging the tapes and releasably secured thereto.
 8. Theportable gun case defined in claim 2 wherein the board is rigid.
 9. Theportable gun case defined in claim 8 wherein the board has a face turnedtoward the one wall and the board face and the one wall are providedwith complementary hook/loop strips that removably secure the board tothe one wall.
 10. The portable gun case defined in claim 2 wherein thewalls can all be folded flat.
 11. The portable gun case defined in claim10 wherein the side walls and end walls are permanently hinged on thefloor wall and the top wall is permanently hinged on one of the sidewalls.
 12. The portable gun case defined in claim 2, further comprisingmeans for securing the cover to one of the side walls and thereby closethe cavity.